Witnesses have described the "surreal" moment a man opened fire in Darwin on Tuesday night, killing four men and seriously wounding one woman.
Darwin local Matt James told Channel Nine that he was standing in the carpark of a nearby hotel when "all of a sudden there were gunshots".
"Moments later, someone came running towards me carrying this woman who was covered in blood and basically put her at my feet," he said.
Darwin local Matt James said he heard multiple gunshots. Source: Nine Network
"She was screaming that she had been shot ... the guy that had carried her up was also pretty frantic at the time saying he had opened a door and there was a gunman there and he just proceeded to fire upon anybody inside the body."
Mr James said he was speaking to other witnesses at the hotel, who said the shooter was reportedly screaming out the name "Alex".
"It seems to be that the gunman was looking for one particular person at the hotel," he said
Members of the Territory Response Group arrest a suspected gunman in Darwin. Source: ABC Australia
Leah Potter, who said she lives down the road from the Palms Motel, wrote on Facebook that a woman was shot in front of her house and another man killed nearby.
Speaking to Channel Nine on Wednesday, Ms Potter said she thought the gunshots were fireworks going off.
"A man had come through the Palms Motel, he had shot every window, calling this man's name and then he finally got to the room that the man he was looking for was in and he shot him dead," she added.
Ms Potter said she was familiar with the alleged gunman.
"He's a local Darwin lad that all of us know, so it's quite shocking."
Police at a crime scene on the intersection of McMinn Street and Stuart Highway in Darwin. Source: AAP
Members of the Darwin community, some who knew the victims and the alleged perpetrator, met at a 24-hour cafe in the city last night to support each other, Ms Potter said.
Another witness told ABC News that she saw the shooter, who was wearing a hi-vis shirt, walking with a rifle.
"He's turned and looked at me and I've run ... Locked the door and we hid in the bathroom and called the police," she said.
"[We] just heard shot after shot after shot".
Chris Dalgleish, who was having a beer on the balcony of the Frontier Hotel pub across the road from the Palm Hotel, said people heard shots and raced inside the pub when they realised it was a gun.
"Everyone started jumping inside, then locking doors and windows and went to the back corner," he said.
Meanwhile, Facebook user John Rose said he witnessed a man "shoot up the Palms Hotel".
Locations of the shootings. Source: SBS News/Google Maps
"He was wearing high-vis, we found one person in the rooms that he shot up. Scary," Mr Rose posted.
"We watched him like 20 feet away, calmly walk into the hotel room shoot the door open and then proceeded to shoot up every room," he wrote.
The 45-year-old suspected gunman, who was on parole, was arrested after being on the run for about an hour on Tuesday night, police said.
With AAP
